Caleb: Military Heroes (The One I Want Series Book 3)

by Ellie Masters

  Now, all he needed was to figure out what to do about Caitlyn. He walked away from her twice. Would she consider taking him back? Could she trust he wouldn’t leave her again? He wouldn’t, but she needed to believe it in her bones. There would be nothing to keep him from her side. Well, nothing but one thing. If she said no, told him to take a hike, or screamed at him to leave her alone, he’d have to respect that.

  The knock on his door was an unwelcome intrusion. He had a list of online business schools to check out. With a sigh, he tugged down his pirate’s patch, closed his laptop, and braced for unwelcome visitors.

  “Go away!” He shouted at the nurse, or doctor, or whomever, but they didn’t listen.

  The door to his room slowly opened.

  “I said get out!”

  “Hey, Caleb.”

  His heart leapt into his throat when Caitlyn walked into his room.

  “I must be dreaming.” But if this was a dream, it was the best damn dream in the world. “Is it really you?”

  She crossed the distance from the door to his bed, seeming to glide like an ethereal angel. He still couldn’t believe his eyes—or eye. Each step ratcheted his heart rate up a notch. He wanted to go to her but was trapped by the IVs snaking out of his arms.

  “Hi, Caleb.”

  His entire life, he’d heard about soulmates and how the universe worked to bring two souls together. Like everyone else in Bear Creek, he thought that moment had been when he was a kid and first met Caitlyn at five-years-old. Or maybe it had been in that cave, the night they’d shared the most intimate of firsts at sixteen?

  But looking at her now, standing beside his hospital bed, this was that moment. Because, he would fight for her love the rest of his life, and he would never be complete without her by his side.

  As surely as he knew that, he also knew she would love him.

  Their bond had been forged in the fires of regret, tested past breaking, and yet rebounded with a resiliency meant to withstand anything.

  She was the only person who could break his heart, and he may have broken hers more than once, but that was okay. In this moment, they became whole.

  He stretched out his hand and she took it in hers, careful of the IV taped to the back of his hand.

  “How is this possible?” He still couldn’t believe it.

  She sat beside him and tears shimmered in her eyes. “Your mother told me what happened.”

  “But how did you…”

  Her irrational fear about traveling outside Bear Creek had been insurmountable, or so he thought. But her presence revealed a profound truth. She overcame her fear to be by his side. It showed her true strength.

  “Your mother talked to Marge, who talked to everyone else. They bought me a ticket and I came.” She wiped her cheeks. “I don’t want fear to keep us apart. Wherever you go, I want to be there. So, if you still want me, I’ll go wherever the Marines take you. I’m here and I’m not leaving.”

  He hugged her tight to his chest, realizing the courage it had taken for her to give everything up for him, but then he laughed. He couldn’t help it. A low chuckle escaped him, and then another laugh burst forth.

  “What’s so funny?” She pulled back, her brows knitting together as she scanned his face.

  He leaned forward and kissed her on the lips. It was sloppy, wonderfully messy, and simply perfect.

  “It’s just, you left Bear Creek for me, but I’m coming home for you.”

  Confusion tugged at her brows. “What about the Marines?”

  He pointed to the eye patch. “This makes me non-operational. Which means the Marines are in my past. But even if they weren’t, even if it wasn’t for this, you’re the one I want.”

  “Caleb…” Her voice dropped to a whisper.

  “I don’t have a ring, and I can’t even get down on one knee, but Cat, will you marry me?”

  She brushed the outline of the eyepatch. “Does it hurt?”

  “You’re seriously not asking me about my eye after I just proposed.”

  A giggle escaped her. “I guess I am.”

  “You’re going to leave me hanging?”

  She glanced over her shoulder and lifted her voice. “I don’t know. What do you think, Bullfrog? Should I keep Killshot waiting?” She gave another giggle. “It’s a funny name, Caleb.”

  His gaze jerked to the door, which slowly opened. Not just Jeremiah, but his entire team stood there with broad, goofy grins on their faces. He shouldn’t be surprised they had been a part of bringing Caitlyn to him.

  He palmed his face and should feel foolish getting all mushy with his girl, but he didn’t care. Caitlyn was his, for always and forever. With a glare to the guys, he made a show of wrapping her in his arms and giving her a kiss guaranteed to make her blush for years to come. As the guys shouted catcalls from the doorway, he flipped Caitlyn to her back.

  “I’m waiting for that answer.”

  She wrapped her hands around his neck and stared up at him with the prettiest smile he’d ever seen.

  “Always and forever? Isn’t that the line? I’ll be yours always and forever.”

  “Is that a yes?” Jeremiah called out from the doorway. “Because we’re not leaving until it’s a bona fide yes.”

  Caitlyn giggled as Caleb nuzzled her neck, trailing kisses down to her cleavage. If she didn’t answer soon, his team was going to get an eyeful.

  She squirmed beneath him when she realized what he intended, and then gave him the only answer that made any sense.

  “Yes!” She tried pushing him aside as he kissed between her breasts, but he refused to give up his position.

  “Looks like that’s our signal to leave,” Jeremiah said. “We’ll stand guard outside, so you two can properly celebrate, but keep the noise down.” Jeremiah closed the door to his room.

  In the silence which followed, Caleb stared down at his bride to be. “I’m taking over operations at Rowdy Range.”

  “What?”

  “Well, after Drake show’s me the ropes. And I’m getting a degree. If your dad could run a ranch in Peace Springs and raise a family in Bear Creek, then I think I can do the same.”

  “A family?”

  “Yeah, it’s time to make it our home.”

  She placed her fingers over his chest. “Someone very smart once told me that home is where the heart is. Wherever you are, that’s where I want to be. I love you.”

  “I love you too.” With the guys guarding the door to his hospital room, he proceeded to show Caitlyn exactly how much.

  It may have taken a few years too long, but they found their path. Home would always be with Caitlyn, wherever that may be.

  Chapter 22

  Caitlyn

  A few months later

  It was early October, the trees had turned vibrant shades of yellow, orange, and red. A blanket of white slowly crept down from the top of the mountains as early snows shrouded them for the winter. Bear Creek had yet to have their first real snow of the season, but it would come. Meanwhile, Caitlyn Quinn prepared herself to become Caitlyn Caswell, wife to the most amazing man she knew.

  She snuck glances at Caleb as she walked down the aisle, flashed him a grin, and failed to hide her shock.

  He just looked…stunning, amazing, jaw-dropping gorgeous, and he was completely, one-hundred percent hers, as she was his. The man had eyes for no one else, and his hungry stare told every man in the room that she belonged to him.

  Beneath his gaze, he mentally stripped her out of the wedding gown. There was no slow fumbling, slipping of buttons out of button holes, or the slow release of a zipper. He ripped and shredded until she was bared to him for his wedding feast. She had no illusions, or misconceptions about how that would go.

  The two of them were fierce in bed.

  Caleb had always been an amazing lover, something he reminded her of that day in the hospital where he proposed and proceeded to ravish her while still tied to IV tubing. It had been awkward and she had been so afraid o
f getting caught, but there had been no need.

  His teammates kept guard outside the door and refused to let the nurse in when she came to deliver Caleb’s scheduled meds. Caitlyn tried to keep quiet, but that proved impossible. The whole ward knew what happened in that room. Not that she cared. How could she when all her dreams had suddenly come true?

  And of course, she said yes.

  Which brought her to this moment.

  She didn’t walk down an aisle. She floated, high on the incredible power of the love radiating outward from Caleb. She never thought she’d have a chance to experience something this incredible.

  Her forever had been taken from her, not once but twice, and then fate somehow intervened. She guessed fate got tired of waiting around for the two of them to figure things out on their own.

  Their path may not have been easy, it split, came together, and split again. But none of that mattered. She was walking down the aisle in her wedding gown.

  Nothing adequately described how good Caleb looked. The butterflies in her stomach danced and her cheeks heated as everyone important in her world gathered around them to witness the culmination of a love story far too long in the making.

  Caleb still had that unique ability to make anything he wore look like he’d walked off the cover of a magazine. His perfectly tailored black slacks strained over long, muscular legs. Beneath those trousers, he had the tightest, most perfect ass in the whole world and something much more impressive cupped between his legs and hidden behind the fly.

  She’d become reacquainted with it, among other things, over the past few months.

  Caleb’s body was not as she remembered. He was an artistic canvas of ripped muscles, bulging veins, and miles of shredded skin which tasted like sin. It had once been a smooth canvas, but now was puckered with scars and decorated in ink. He worked out a lot, maintaining his physique, and she loved the way sweat clung to his skin, dripping down his belly as she drooled and itched to lick and taste every inch of him.

  He was a painfully arousing sight, carnal in nature, and potent enough to steal her breath.

  Each and every time.

  She couldn’t get enough of him, or him of her. It seemed they feasted upon one another, making up for the many years they spent apart, fucking like bunnies every chance they got.

  It was amazing she could walk down the aisle at all considering what he’d done to her last night. He promised to finish things after their last guest left for the evening, although he’d done a bang-up job several times over. Even her voice was raw from screaming his name. Her throat still scratched.

  She didn’t intend to let him go first, planning a devilish attack of her own as she stripped him out of that tux using her mouth to torture him as she scraped her teeth over his skin and used her tongue to trace the lines of the V-shaped indentations angling from his hipbone all the way to the apex of his thighs. He wasn’t the only one with a few tricks up his sleeve, though.

  He sucked in a breath, as if reading her thoughts. The broad expanse of his chest lifted then paused as he held his breath. She burned beneath that gaze and melted at the love he showered upon her. Their night would be combustible.

  He looked upon her with his remaining eye and every muscle in her body tensed. Her vision shimmered and her heart slammed against her ribcage. With a tiny shake of his head, he spoke volumes, telling her every filthy thing he intended later on. What she read in the tiny flicker of his eyes was that she would be the one at his mercy. Not the other way around.

  It would be a battle. One of the best possible kind. And one she honestly didn’t mind losing. To be at Caleb’s mercy was to find bliss.

  The guys got him a new eyepatch for the ceremony, a tiny black diamond with a white bow at the top. Caleb had accumulated an extensive collection of eye patches over the past few months. Soon, he wouldn’t need them. The doctors said most of the swelling was gone. They just had to wait for the fracture of his orbital rim to fully heal before he could get his first fake eye.

  Caleb teased her, saying he was going to have a skull and crossbones painted in the pupil. In no uncertain terms, she told him that would not happen. He said he would paint a rifle targeting sight on it instead. She kept her mouth shut. Arguing only encouraged him.

  Men in suits weren’t normally her thing, but Caleb in a tuxedo was a force of nature she was not prepared to handle. The stunningly handsome man who waited to make her his wife was wound tight, barely restrained in that black tux, and resigned to endure the social requirements of a public ceremony before claiming his wife. She could see his restlessness as he hungrily stared at her slow procession down the aisle.

  He wanted her now.

  For tonight, she’d take the man in a tux. She preferred jeans and the kind of shirts that were wrinkled and faded from the sun. Not that the tux would prevent her from tackling Caleb the moment the day’s events concluded.

  She had wanted a spring wedding, but Caleb’s injury kept him hospitalized and in recovery longer than they anticipated. It took a little over a year for the Marines to release him. Medically boarded for his injury, he was slowly adjusting to civilian life. With the arrival of fall, he enrolled in online courses, working toward a degree in business. Drake mentored him, teaching him everything about running a cattle ranch. When he wasn’t working on the ranch, he joined her on her guided expeditions with tourists eager to see what the great outdoors could offer. They shared everything.

  And he took her traveling, using up the leave he would have lost. Once the hospital released him, he took her on a cross country trip, showing her the wonders of the world beyond Bear Creek. No one died. No one got hurt. Her fears dissolved in the rushing of the wind, the laughter on his voice, and in the steadiness of his indomitable presence. They had plans for a cruise, her first foray outside of the country, and she looked forward to all the experiences he intended to share along the way. He opened up the world and she couldn’t wait to explore every bit of it with him.

  Caleb loved Bear Creek, but he needed room to breathe. She wasn’t afraid to give him that. Not anymore. She wasn’t afraid to share that with him.

  Music filled the chapel and she clutched at her bouquet. Looking at Caleb brought sinful thoughts to mind of all the things they would do once alone. She had to look away, before everyone figured out what was going on in her head. Caleb already knew, and he rocked back and forth with restless agitation to divest them of their clothes and twist the sheets.

  Caleb’s mother sat with her best friend. She and Marge clutched each other’s hands and shamelessly wiped away their tears. Sheriff Johnson stood at the back, watching over everyone gathered. Tom Studer sat on her side of the aisle, although the distinction of who was a friend of the bride or groom blurred in the small town. Her high school friend, Brent came as well, and brought his fiancée, Brie, with him. They would be married in a few months, on a private yacht somewhere off the coast of Brazil.

  Tom’s daughter, Dani, her best friend and Maid of Honor, stood up front looking amazing in her bridesmaid dress. Once Dani finished veterinary school, they would likely trade places.

  Dani had been dating the same guy all the way through undergraduate school and vet school. Everyone anticipated an engagement announcement soon. Dani said it wouldn’t happen until next year. Caitlyn couldn’t wait for her friend to finish school and move back home.

  Bear was up at the altar, sitting patiently. He had been the ring bearer for the ceremony and somewhere on his collar, two rings had been woven tight with silk ribbon. As she drew near, Caleb stepped forward and took her hand in hers.

  Caitlyn didn’t know if other people remembered their wedding ceremonies. All she felt was a whirlwind from the moment Caleb took her hand until the last guest left.

  It was just them as they stood outside their home.

  The hunger shining in his eyes was sharp, ravenous, and thick with possession. He looked like an avenging angel, swooping in to claim, to protect, and to shelter her in his a
rms forever.

  “Mrs. Caswell,” he said with a low growl, “I do believe the night is mine.”

  Without waiting for her response, he swept her into his arms and carried her over the threshold.

  Despite her initial thoughts, he only ripped two of the twenty buttons on her dress. The zipper didn’t fare as well, ripping in his haste to divest her of the fabric which kept him from his goal.

  Passion spiked in her veins, racing around her body in a glorious rush of pleasure which settled with a needy throb between her legs. His impulsiveness would be her undoing. She stepped around him, half naked, to shut the door. She barely locked it, before he picked her up and slung her over his shoulder.

  Caleb carried her to their bed and tossed her to the mattress. She scooted back, heart filled to bursting, as he yanked at his tie and ripped the shirt from his body. His breathing grew heavy as he squatted at the foot of the bed. Fingers wrapped around her ankles, he jerked her to the edge, and draped her legs over his shoulders.

  Caitlyn cried out as he proceeded to show her how much he loved her. His possessiveness wasn’t new, and she drowned with a sense of utter happiness as he took her over the edge, screaming his name and loving every second of their journey.

  She was his. He was hers. He was the one she wanted. From the earliest age, her heart had belonged to him. While their road had been long and twisted, and sometimes she thought they were lost to one another, fate ensured they never lost sight of true love.

  Every girl deserved her happily ever after. Caitlyn believed this, even if hers took longer than she thought it should. With her legs wrapped around Caleb’s hips and her fingers threaded through his hair, she kissed the man of her dreams, the man who held her heart, and the man she would grow old with.

  “I love you.” He huffed out the words as their bodies joined in the most intimate embrace.

  It didn’t matter how long it took.